Simulation and Thought Experiments
8-9 June 2017, University of Geneva
Uni Bastions – room B214
Rue de Candolle 5, 1205 Genève
Simulations and thought experiments are used across scientific disciplines to produce and explore new theories, explanatory hypotheses and arguments that may guide us to new experiments and ultimately to new knowledge.
The goal of the conference is to explore the notions of simulation and thought experiment from the perspectives of philosophy of science, epistemology and philosophy of mind. A close analysis of their similarities and differences will provide a basis for their accurate deployment in scientific reasoning.
The conference is an activity of the Geneva Centre for Philosophy of Science and the DFG-SNSF research unit ‘What if?’.
Program
| Thursday, June 8, 2017 | |
|---|---|
| 14:00 | Margherita Arcangeli: Mental simulation as the hidden link between real, thought and numerical experiments |
| 15:00 | Coffee |
| 15:15 | Gualtiero Piccinini: Mental Representation, Simulation, and Thought Experiments |
| 16:15 | Coffee |
| 16:30 | Claus Beisbart: What if we want to know more about counterfactuals? How experiments, thought experiments and computer simulations help gain knowledge about counterfactual conditionals |
| 19:00 | Conference Dinner |
| Friday,June 9, 2017 | |
| 09:30 | Stephan Hartmann: Confirmation via Analogue Simulation: A Bayesian Analysis |
| 10:30 | Coffee |
| 10:45 | Anouk Barberousse: On the respective powers of computer simulations and imagination |
| 11:45 | Coffee |
| 12:00 | Michael Stuart: Thought Experiments and Computer Simulations are Metaphorical Experiments |
| 13:00 | Lunch |
| 14:30 | Daniel Dohrn: Schlick on Simulating Experience as a Sinnkriterium for Thought Experiments |
| 15:30 | Coffee |
| 15:45 | Nenad Miscevic: Simulation in political thought experiments |
| 16:45 | Rawad El Skaf: The Structure of Scientific Thought Experiments, or an Inconsistency Revealers and Eliminators Account |
| 17:45 | Wrap Up |